[jseth]

I don't think there is really any comparison between those two brands... I am not a fan of Gibson acoustic guitars, in general, but ESPECIALLY those "dead", flat sounding J-200s that everyone seems to rave about...

I HAVE played a couple J-200s that were very good guitars, but they have been far-and-few-between, in my experience. So I'm not saying that you CAN'T find a great sounding J-200, but all I can say is "Good luck and happy hunting"...

In contrast, the Guild Jumbos have a totally different sound and feel... much more to my liking, but I am truly NOT a fan of any of the "arch-back" Guilds... using laminate wood just because it's easier to "form" the arch (as opposed to actually carving the thing, like a great archtop guitar). 70's Guilds were part of a severe downturn in Guild quality, in my opinion.

There are MUCH better Jumbo-style guitars out there... personally, I favor the Concert Jumbo size/shape, what some builders call their "Mini Jumbo" or small jumbo... for over 30 years, I have played my Mark Angus F-40 (#35) that Mark built for me in 1979, pretty much straight off a template of the Guild F-40. Taylor calls theirs the GS (or the Style1 in the R Taylor guitars).

That body size and shape just seems to be the best of both worlds; responsive enough to be a great fingerstyle instrument, yet powerful enough to put out the volume to hang with dreadnoughts...

My favorite of them all is the Goodall Concert Jumbo, with whichever woods you choose... I don't think you can wrong with one, either for stage or personal usage, or both!